The Crossing (episode)
Enterprise is captured by another spaceship, crewed by noncorporeal beings who wish to trade consciousnesses with the crew's bodies. Summary The ''Enterprise'' gets "eaten" by another alien ship. They are not able to make any contact and at first, there seem to be no lifeforms aboard. However when a team gets outside to explore the interior of the ship, it is clear that they are dealing with sentient beings: the atmosphere changes to be breathable by humans and the strange wisps that populate the ship's interior are obviously not moving at random. Then, a wisp approaches Trip and enters his head. When it comes out, its color has changed from blue to yellow. A little after, the yellow wisp returns and Trip regain control over his body. Back on the Enterprise, there seems to be no consequence to the body exchange and a wisp returns again, for a longer experience this time. After learning a little more on the human way of life, the creature is confronted by Archer and says that his people are explorers, just like the Enterprise crew, that used to be corporeal beings generations ago and are trying to learn more about their ancestors' way of living. Following that, many body exchanges occur, and since the wisps are able to pass through walls, there is little Archer can do but confine the exchanged crewmen to quarters. He is still unsure about the intentions of the aliens, even if they agree to release the Enterprise. Then, Travis Mayweather stumbles upon a way to keep the wisps out: the catwalk. The crew then proceeds to relocate into the warp nacelles. A little after that careful move, there is the first sign of hostility from the aliens when Hoshi's resident assaults the Doctor (who is apparently immune to the exchanges). T'Pol then proposes to try to make contact with one of the creatures to learn more about their motives in a kind of mind meld. What she learns is a little disturbing: the aliens' ship is crucially deteriorating and they are trying to find corporeal hosts to survive. With this new insight, the captain devises a plan to momentarily "kill" the crew and resurrect them later so the wisps will go away. Phlox is able to execute the plan almost flawlessly, the only hitch being a fight with a possessed Trip which ends in the "death" of the engineer. When the aliens realize what has just happened, they move to recapture the Enterprise again, but this time, the only thing they get are two torpedoes that destroy their whole ship from the inside. Memorable Quotes "Are you a female?" "Sir?" "Your gender: You are a female, correct?" "Last time I checked..." "I'm a male!" "I'm aware of that, Lieutenant." "There seem to be a number of anatomical differences..." "Sir!" : - wisp-alien in Malcolm Reed's body, talking with a female crewman Background Information * This is the first appearance of Crewman Michael Rostov since "Two Days and Two Nights", in the first season of Enterprise. * The fact that the secondary bridge was left in the catwalk after the episode Catwalk may demonstrate the original Starfleet concept of a Battle Bridge. Links and References Guest Stars *Joseph Will as Rostov *Steven Allerick as Cook *Alexander Chance as Crewman *Matthew Kaminsky as Cunningham References acetylcholine; anatomy; barbecue; bread; camera; carbon dioxide; Cassidy, Hopalong; catwalk; Cole; corporeal; deuterium injector; deuterium pump; dilithium matrix; EV suit; Florida; gender; God; helium; hull plating; Lisa; neural pathway; New Zealand; nitrogen; non-corporeal beings; osmium; osmotic filter; oxygen; ribs; Rossi; sexual reproduction; snow; snow sailing; subspace; Tarpon Springs; transceiver; Vulcan database; warp coil; Wisp; xenon |next= }} Crossing, The de:Übergang es:The Crossing nl:The Crossing